These cheesy rolls are a recipe from Adriana Meharry, my sister's good friend in Seattle. Adriana is Brazilian, and she has made these rolls every which way, sometimes using goat cheese instead of Parmesan. To do so with this recipe, add slightly less milk. Whole Adriana does not refrigerate her dough before baking, I find that cold dough is much, much easier to portion.

Pao de queijo (Brazilian Cheesy Bread)

Makes 24 rolls

500 grams / 4 1/4 cups tapioca starch (tapioca flour)

4 grams / 1 teaspoon kosher salt

480 grams / 2 cups whole milk

105 grams / 1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

200 grams / 2 1/3 cups Parmesan cheese grated with a Microplane rasp

Whisk together the tapioca starch and salt in a large, heat-proof mixing bowl.

In a pot, bring the milk and oil to a boil. Pour over the tapioca and let rest until cool enough to handle.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and then mix in the cheese.

Using your hands, start to knead the tapioca flour to form a dough. (It will be sticky.) Add half of the egg and cheese and knead until incorporated. Add the remaining egg and cheese and continue to knead until the dough is homogenous, with the exception of some small lumps of tapioca flour, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can mix the dough using the paddle attachment of a Kitchen Aid mixer.) Refrigerate the dough until chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Arrange the oven so one rack is in the center and preheat to 375ºF. Generously butter two Pyrex pans or 12 muffin tins.

Using oiled spoons, drop 2- to 3-tablespoon portions of dough onto the prepared pans or into muffin tins.

Bake in the center of the oven, rotating the pans once, for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. If the tops don’t brown, turn the oven to broil and broil for 1 minute.

Pop the rolls out of the pans or tins. Re-butter the baking pans or tins and portion the remaining dough. (You may have to bake two more rounds to use all the dough, or you can refrigerate extra dough to bake the next day.) Serve warm.